Duncan: ‘That’s on us.’

Down six points with less than 30 seconds to go Saturday night against Oklahoma City, the Spurs had a chance at a miracle finish.

George Hill swished an off-balance 3-pointer to cut the deficit in half. Keith Bogans intercepted an inbounds pass from Thabo Sefolosha.

What happened next, Tim Duncan said later, was a failure on the part of the Spurs who have been here before.

The ball ended up in the hands of Richard Jefferson, who darted toward the Thunder basket. Determined not to be a goat, Sefolosha raced with Jefferson, eventually stripping him of the ball and the Spurs of their best chance to force overtime. The Thunder held on for a 101-98 win at the AT&T Center.

In retrospect, Duncan said the Spurs’ other veterans let Jefferson down on the play.

“Obviously, the last play down there we probably should have called a timeout,” Duncan said. “With the experience of enough of us, we should have done something. Either set a screen for Richard or gotten a timeout and gotten a play in.”

Some of the Spurs’ struggles during their 4-4 start can be attributed to new players experiencing hiccups while learning a new system and new schemes. The end of the OKC game wasn’t one of them.

“That’s on us,” Duncan said, “the guys who have been here.”

Other news and notes from Saturday’s loss …

* Gregg Popovich doesn’t want to admit it, but Roger Mason Jr. is in a bona fide shooting slump. A year after shooting a career-best 42.1 percent from 3-point range, and earning an invite to the NBA’s 3-point shootout during All-Star weekend, Mason is hitting at just a 22.2-percent clip so far this season. He’s 6 of 27.

Some of it, of course, is a lack of opportunity. Mason is averaging less than 18 minutes a game. Popovich tends to blame Mason’s low percentage on a small sample size.

“We’ve only played a couple of games,” Popovich said. “He hasn’t shot very much. I didn’t even know he was in a slump.”

It is worth noting that Mason did not make an appearance against the Thunder until the start of the fourth quarter, and only then after Popovich opted to rest Manu Ginobili and his tight hamstring.

* Speaking of Ginobili’s hamstring, the guard and his coach were at odds Saturday about just how injured he was. Ginobili contends he could have played. Popovich was taking no chances.

“I just thought it would be best to be conservative,” Popovich said, “than to have that hamstring be worse and lose him for a long period.”

Popovich’s stance is understandable. After watching two straight seasons come untracked due to Ginobili injuries, he believes it best to err on the side of caution — even if Ginobili might characterize it as paranoia.

* Ginobili’s fourth-quarter haitus opened the door for George Hill to spend even more time at shooting guard alongside Tony Parker. Look for Popovich to go this route often throughout the season. Hill has earned more minutes than would be possible as purely Parker’s backup, and this is a way to get them to him.

Unlike other teams who have tinkered with two point-guard lineups, like Portland and Dallas, the Spurs can get away with it for longer periods because Hill can guard players bigger than him. Against Oklahoma City, the 6-foot-2 Hill took on 6-foot-9 Kevin Durant, and held his own.

* Interesting note of the night. Rookie DeJuan Blair earned his second straight start at center, even though Duncan returned from injury. Blair, 6-foot-7, even jumped center for the second game in a row. He lost this tip to Nenad Krstic.

* Duncan, on the last time he had three dunks in a game before Saturday: “I don’t know, ’73 or ’74?”